House of Lords: Lords Spiritual Table of Contents Summary Summary 1. Background 2. Recent Developments: The membership of the House of Lords includes 26 Church of England Size of the House Archbishops and Bishops who sit on an ex officio basis as ‘Lords Spiritual’. Their right to sit and vote in the House having been established by ancient 3. Discussion usage and by statute. They currently comprise around 3 percent of the total 4. Statistics membership. As Members of the House of Lords, the Lords Spiritual have the same rights as life and hereditary Peers, the ‘Lords Temporal’. A Bishop reads prayers at the start of each sitting day and Bishops regularly participate in the business of the House. A Convenor of the Lords Spiritual is appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and coordinates the work of the Bishops in the Lords. Between the 2005–06 and 2016–17 sessions, the Bishops attendance averaged 18 percent, compared to the whole house average of 58.5 percent. A number of commentators have observed that the Bishops’ relatively low attendance is the result of having a wide range of duties in their dioceses. Arguments made about reserved seats for the Bishops typically focus on their historical role in the UK constitution, their contribution to the work of the House of Lords, their role as representatives, the potential impact of their removal on the established church and the role of Bishops in passing church legislation. Since 1847, the number of Bishops in the House of Lords has been fixed at 26. No cap on numbers exists for other category of Member. Five of the 26 (the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester) are automatically granted a seat. Previously, when a vacancy arose in one of the remaining 21 spaces not reserved, the next most senior Bishop replaced them. Until 2025, under the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015, any such vacancy is now filled by a female English diocesan Bishop, ahead of any male. Bishops are required to retire at the age of 70. When a vacancy arises in the 40 Church of England dioceses that are eligible to send Bishops to the House of Lords, the Church of England follows a procedure for choosing a Bishop. This involves consultation with the local community and discussions about the needs of the Church as a whole. A Crown Nominations Commission will hold interviews with the candidates and vote on a first and second choice. When a candidate has accepted, the Prime Minister then advises the Sovereign to formally nominate the candidate. Samuel White 4 September 2017 2 House of Lords Library Briefing I House of Lords: Religious Representation Table of Contents Summary 1 1. Background 1 1.1 Historical Development ........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Appointment ............................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Role ............................................................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Participation ................................................................................................................................. 6 1.5 Church Legislation ................................................................................................................... 12 2. Recent Developments 12 2.1 Size of the House ..................................................................................................................... 12 3. Discussion 15 4. Statistics 27 4.1 Attendance................................................................................................................................. 27 4.2 Parliamentary Questions ........................................................................................................ 28 4.3 Other Contributions ............................................................................................................... 31 4.4 Voting Activity .......................................................................................................................... 34 ___________________________________________________________________________________ A full list of Lords Library briefings is available on the research briefings page on the internet. The Library publishes briefings for all major items of business debated in the House of Lords. The Library also publishes briefings on the House of Lords itself and other subjects that may be of interest to Members. House of Lords Library briefings are compiled for the benefit of Members of the House of Lords and their personal staff, to provide impartial, authoritative, politically balanced briefing on subjects likely to be of interest to Members of the Lords. Authors are available to discuss the contents of the briefings with the Members and their staff but cannot advise members of the general public. Any comments on Library briefings should be sent to the Head of Research Services, House of Lords Library, London SW1A 0PW or emailed to [email protected]. House of Lords Library Briefing I House of Lords: Religious Representation 1 1. Background The Lords Spiritual are the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England who have seats in the House of Lords. Diocesan Bishops are appointed following the process undertaken by the Church of England, which is outlined in section 1.2. The Crown, under the advice of the Prime Minister, makes the final appointment to the vacant see.1 Their right to sit and vote in the House of Lords is established by ancient usage and by statute. Those Bishops who become Lords Spiritual only remain so whilst they hold the office of Bishop (so are ex officio Members of the Lords and are therefore not Peers). The number of Bishops in the House of Lords is fixed at 26 and they are required to retire at 70.2 Of the two Archbishops and 24 Bishops in the House of Lords, five (the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester) are automatically granted a seat. Previously, the remaining 21 took their seats on the basis of seniority in the Church of England. When a vacancy arose in one of the 21 places not reserved (for example through death, retirement or resignation), the next most senior Bishop replaced them. However, this was changed by the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015. When a vacancy now arises it is filled by a female English diocesan Bishop (where there is one), ahead of any male. In the event that there are two eligible women Bishops, it would go to the woman whose appointment as a Bishop was confirmed first.3 The provisions in this Act will last ten years from 2015 until 2025.4 There are currently two female Bishops in the House of Lords, the Bishop of Gloucester, Rachel Treweek, and the Bishop of Newcastle, Christine Hardman, who joined the House on 7 September 2015 and 18 November 2015 respectively.5 There are currently 42 dioceses in England and an additional diocese in Europe. Of these, 40 are eligible to send Bishops to the House of Lords. The Diocese of Europe and the Diocese of Sodor and Man do not send Bishops to the House of Lords. In the latter case, the Bishop of Sodor and Man sits in the Isle of Man’s Parliament, the Tynwald.6 1.1 Historical Development The participation of the Bishops in public business dates back to the early 1 Church of England, ‘Diocesan Bishops: Nomination and Appointment Process’, accessed 15 August 2017. 2 Ecclesiastical Offices (Age Limit) Measure 1975 (1975 No 2). 3 House of Lords Library, Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill (HL Bill 87 of 2014–15), 3 February 2015, p 3. 4 ibid. 5 UK Parliament website, ‘Bishop of Gloucester’, accessed 15 August 2017; and ‘Bishop of Newcastle’, accessed 15 August 2017. For further information on the introduction of female Bishops see: House of Lords Library, Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill (HL Bill 87 of 2014–15), 3 February 2015. 6 Church of England, ‘About the Lords Spiritual’, accessed 15 August 2017. 2 House of Lords Library Briefing I House of Lords: Religious Representation feudal period, when Bishops were summoned to Parliament by virtue of their feudal status as royal tenants by barony.7 It has been said that “at one time the Spiritual Peers were the most influential Members of the House. They filled the more important offices of state, and in actual number they had a majority over the Temporal Peers”.8 Following the Act of Supremacy 1534, which repudiated papal supremacy and declared Henry VIII supreme head of the Church of England, the numbers representing the Church in the Lords diminished.9 By the 18th Century the size of the House of Lords was around 220, and the votes of the Bishops increased in importance. It has been noted that in 1733 Sir Robert Walpole was “twice saved from defeat by the almost solid vote of the bench of Bishops”.10 From the 18th Century through to the early part of the 19th Century, the appointment of Bishops was “one of the important prizes of patronage exercised by the governments”, though by the 19th Century the Bishops bench “had broken away from its connection with the Whigs and usually voted with the Conservatives”.11 The last Bishop to hold ministerial office was in 1711, when the Bishop of Bristol, John Robinson, was Lord Privy Seal.12 In his 1958 book, Peter Bromhead stated that “well before 1900 bishoprics had ceased to be part of the system of political patronage by means of which government sought to maintain their parliamentary strength”.